Top 5 Stories Of 2019: Fashion To Fiduciary

The top Advisor News stories of 2019 crossed a lot of boundaries, from fashion to fiduciary.

It was a very busy year and our readership reflected the frenetic time for financial services. Here are the top five most-read stories on Advisor News:

Six Changes To Social Security

An estimated 61 million people collect Social Security benefits — for many it is the only source of retirement income.

Changes to the Social Security Administration pension program are an annual event and 2020 is no different. Some changes are due to formulas, while others are part of the legislative framework underpinning Social Security.

This story explained the six changes announced by the SSA in November.

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Get Mad … At The SEC

In this June opinion piece, Jamie Hopkins encouraged Registered Investment Advisors and dually licensed advisors to get angry, mad, motivated and organize. The SEC just made a significant change and hardly anyone noticed for a few weeks, he explained.

Not only did the SEC not raise the broker-dealer standard to that of a fiduciary standard, but they are now banning the use of the word “fiduciary” – for fiduciary advisors in the new CRS form to describe the advisor’s standard of conduct.

Hopkins went on to explain why the change is more than just a case of semantics in the RIA world.

Clothes Make The Advisor

Across the financial planning profession opinions vary greatly about what is appropriate attire for meeting with clients, attending conferences with their peers and leaving their own personal mark on their style.

J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs loosened their ties recently – and threw them away with their updated dress codes calling for business casual. But what about advisors in the field? Was business casual already the norm? Largely yes, but not exactly, according to some advisors. “Business casual” means different things to different people.

For this story, AdvisorNews asked a varied group of advisors for their thoughts on attire.

GenXers Need To Plan

Generation X is the forgotten generation when it comes to retirement planning, a study revealed.

A higher percentage of Gen Xers are looking more like millennials than baby boomers as far as their retirement confidence is concerned, according to a study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. This is troublesome as the oldest members of Gen X are getting very close to retirement age.

High levels of debt are keeping Gen Xers from saving for retirement, and the Great Recession hit this age group particularly hard, said Neil Lloyd, partner and head of U.S. defined contribution research with Mercer.

The Retiree Mindset

When Laurie Adams convinced her husband to retire early in 1997 she thought it would be a great idea. She and her son would see him more often, and he would be free to pursue other endeavors that he couldn’t pursue due to the high demands of the hospitality industry.

Adams, a financial planner at Country Financial in Peoria Heights, Ill., soon realized that she was wrong.

This story looked at the four different personality types for retirees, and how advisors can use this info to help all of their clients better prepare for retirement.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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